Merci! French teacher named Volusia educator of the year

Grace Kellermeier — selected from 70 nominees — received the award before a crowd of more than 900 at a Friday night banquet.

By Linda Trimblelinda.trimble@news-jrnl.com

DAYTONA BEACH — A veteran French teacher and coach from New Smyrna Beach High School who believes in exposing her students to the language through guest speakers and travel is Volusia County’s new Teacher of the Year.Grace Kellermeier — selected from 70 nominees — received the award before a crowd of more than 900 at a Friday night banquet at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort.“I am absolutely humbled. I’m so very proud to represent you,’’ Kellermeier said. “I will do my very best to grow this year, to represent us well.’’Kellermeier, 45, has been teaching at New Smyrna Beach High, where she’s also chairwoman of the foreign languages department and cross-country coach, since 1997.She teaches French to everyone from beginners to those in college-level Advanced Placement classes. “I teach the privileged, the under-privileged, the college-bound, the valedictorian and the eventual dropout, often sitting in the same classroom at the same time,” she wrote in her award application.Former student Jessica Thorpe described Kellermeier as “hands down, the absolute best teacher I’ve ever had, in my life,” in recommending her for the award. Thorpe said she was headed toward dropping out of high school until Kellermeier “gave me a reason to strive for success. That reason was to make her proud of me.”Kellermeier often invites native French speakers from the area to speak to her classes, an exercise she says gets students familiar with different accents and allows them to learn about cultures in countries as different as France and Haiti. She also organizes student group trips to France during the summers.A marathon runner herself, Kellermeier volunteered to take over as cross-country coach in the middle of last season when the former coach resigned. She was assistant coach of the team the previous year. “I could do nothing but to offer to help,” she wrote in her application. “Kids are first.”Kellermeier will now represent Volusia in the Florida Teacher of the Year competition, which will be decided this summer. Jill Espinosa, a kindergarten teacher at Belle Terre Elementary, was selected in January to represent Flagler schools.Other finalists for the top Volusia award were Debra Abadia, Spruce Creek Elementary; Amy Dempsey, Heritage Middle; Emily Light, Champion Elementary; and Michelle Swint, Pine Ridge High.“We are so proud of our teachers here in Volusia County, and we love to take any opportunity we can to highlight how amazing they are,” said Sam Willett, president of the Futures Foundation, which co-hosted the banquet with Volusia County schools. “Our board feels very strongly that our teachers need to be praised, validated and celebrated as an incredible group of professionals.”